Adam From The Wood | Hair of the Dog Brewing Company / Brewery and Tasting Room

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Our Adam aged in American Oak barrels. First released in 2000, and released again in November 2011 in 12oz bottles. This 12% beer has lots of the typical HOTD aromas: Caramel, brown sugar, tons of raisin and tobacco. Fig, date, and plum fruitiness in that order. This has a fairly strong earthy vinousness as well as oak vanilla.

2011 vintage poured from a 12oz bottle into my CBS snifter. It poured dark brown in color with thin, creamy, tan lacing concentrating around the edges of the glass.

The aroma has a bourbon soaked dark fruit quality to it. I get some raisin, plum and caramel mixing with brown sugar, vanilla and oak. The bourbon barrel really compliments very well. Great aroma to it, things really come together well in it.

The taste has a great mix ox bourbon and sweet maltiness to it. The dark fruits, caramel and toffee of Adam really come through, but the bourbon really shines for me. I get some really nice brown sugar and vanilla flavors coming out of the super smooth bourbon. Again, It's really well balanced between the barrel character and the maltiness of the base beer. The flavors really come together well and compliment each other perfectly.

The mouthfeel leans a little towards the heavier side with carbonation being moderate. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic beer. The bold mlatiness of Adam is perfectly complimented by the smooth bourbon. It really comes together well and they balanced the barrel and beer flavors perfectly. it was incredibly smooth for 12% as well.

First had: rather large sample from a bottle at HotD's brewpub, graciously shared by johnmichaelsen, who recognized me and MsRif without ever even meeting us! Thanks!

I found this to be pretty similar to the regular Adam in most ways (which is good), other than perhaps more of a boozy quality, naturally, from the barrel aging. Maybe more aging would accent that trait a bit more. But otherwise, the beer came to me in a HotD sampler glass (love those things), dark cola brown with a lasting, creamy tan head. Aroma of burnt caramel, semi-sweet chocolate (really like this aspect of the beer), dark fruit notes, and bourbon-soaked oak. The barrel has not detracted from the smoothness of the beer for sure; tastes of chocolate, vanilla bean, molasses, some dark fruit, licorice, and a hint of bourbony oak. Very nice. Smooth, full-bodied, and very drinkable.

I have a few bottles of Cherry Adam that I'm looking forward to trying soon.

m - Medium body and low carbonation, very smooth and creamy body to it. Not hot at all in the mouthfeel.

o - Overall I thought this was a really nice beer. The nose was a little old and boozy, but that booze didn't come through much in the taste. It is a sweet beer but a good one. Would like to have it again.

12 oz. bottle thanks to hopsbreath. Poured into a Kate the Great snifter. 2011 bottle.

Appearance - Pours a murky brown with no head. No bubbles. Nothing. Looks quite dead in the glass. A bit chunky with sediment at the end of the bottle.

Smell - Vanilla and oak barrel character. Nice. Sweet malts. A little bit of cola in the aroma. It has a really nice deep malt aroma like a sweet scotch. Touch of peat and leather. Awesome.

Taste - Less complex and a little bit more muddled from sweetness. Bourbon makes its first appearance here, though. Sweet caramel and lots of it. More cola flavors and a slight earthy flavor in the finish.

The beer is dark brown with a thin beige cap. The aroma offers bourbon, oak - very enticing, but lacks the complexity of regular Adam. Bourbon overpowers some if the more subtle aspects of the beer. Great flavor. Melts in your mouth smooth feel with alcohol heat masterfully contained. Lingering bourbon in the aftertaste, though exceptionally soft on the palate. Overall, outstanding.

12oz bottle, 2011 offering care of Joe. Big thanks man! Poured into a matching Hotd tulip, this brew appears a very dark brown with a finger of tan head. The cap dissolves leaving a thin layering pattern across the top. When held to the light, it displays some lighter shades of brown and red coloration when tilted. A light swirl brings forth a finger of tan head and produces some spots of lacing on the glass.

The smell of this brew is crazy. It carries a very familiar aspect of the base beer but with a pleasant freshness and brighter smoked quality that is very well integrated with barrel characteristics. The first thoughts that come forth are smoked chocolates mixed with raisins, tobacco and leather. There is a woodsy quality present mixed with a tangy incorporation of alcohol that is very pleasing throughout. As it warms up, a faint amount of caramel sweetness to toffee/vanilla inclusion come forward.

The taste is bitter chocolate mixed with a solid smoked flavoring. Toasty oak character is present which really ties together the taste of bitter chocolate and smoked grain. There is a mild fruity alcohol inclusion tasting of burnt raisins which creeps down the back of the throat with some solid warmth. The aftertaste is a combination of earthy tobacco, leather, oak, bitter chocolate, smoke and a hint of fruity alcohol. Very deep and enjoyable brew that makes for quite a sipper.

This is a full bodied brew with a moderate amount of carbonation. While the individual ingredients and flavoring of this can be picked apart as drastically unique in their own right, they really blend and tie together very well in this. This is a fantastic sipper of a brew with a great depth of character. I know it is already so many years in the making but honestly I am curious what more aging would do to this already fine example.